"lol" what, did you expect it is easy to get into MIT? Of course you'll need stats like this for even a chance for your application not to get tossed in the trash immediately.
@@bblunder How is it absurd? They have a limited class size and enough people want to apply, making it such that the students they do take (the best of the best for the most part) have done extraordinary things and met those "absurd" criteria.
"I had no idea how to code 1 year before MIT applications." Tis is my story now, I'm aspiring to be an MIT Freshman in 2026. You made me confident about my coding man! THANK YOU SO MUCH BROTHER
Great content man! I am class of 2019! And just started my channel! Going to post a video like this here soon! Thanks for the inspiration! Just subscribed! Good luck growing your channel !
If you have any questions on how YOU can get into MIT, make sure to comment them below! I will be doing my best to reply to every question in my comments
Hello David, very inspiring story! I’m a Canadian in Grade 12 planning to go for engineering. I’m thinking of transferring to MIT, however my only regret is not thinking about this years before… I do a bunch of projects and learning after school ranging from building electronic circuitry to CAD and 3D printing to building airplanes to learning university math on my own. How can I get started on my journey to MIT? Much appreciated!
I am currently attempting to get into Princeton or MIT. I really want to advise you to consider some things: 1. Make sure engineering is your passion. You will spend more time in front of a screen reading and thinking as opposed to making friends and seeing sunlight. This is no joke. This field is hyper-competitive and designed to weed people who don't love it out. 2. Take a gap year. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND and I regret not doing this. Use this gap year to learn things that you will learn in your Engineering major. Chemistry, math, physics, any computer science language, softwares (CAD), Technology, etc. THIS WILL SAVE YOU!!! THIS IS NO JOKE! Learn everything before taking your classes. Professors are not there to teach you, they are there to certify your expertise in that subject. - I'm reading two chapters ahead of my Chemistry class, just self learnt C++ & Arduino, planning to learn SolidWorks. (I have some deep notes that I would be happy to share if you are comfortable) 3. Start some projects based off those things. Currently building Hexapod Robot. 4. Join engineering clubs and be HEAVILY involved in those ONLY catering to your major. Dont do 20 clubs. Only do 2-3 like robotics and computer science club and maybe LSAMP or something similar if you can. Be so involved that your'e an officer or better. I am starting Robotics club at my community college. 5. Community Service, I think it's dumb but do it. I am doing work-study for LSAMP 8 hours a week 6. Document EVERYTHING. Certificates, awards, Scholarships, etc. I got the NSF Scholarship of $7500k and won a NASA Hackathon 7. Get 3.8+ in every course. NO EXCEPTIONS 8. Do an REU and/or and Internship in something similar to your field. I am applying to Carbon Robotics Internship for next summer 9. Whatever college/university you go to, look at the degree plan/pathway and plan your classes out 6 months in advance. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE or you will not get the class you need to graduate on time. 10. On RU-vid watch "map of engineering" by 'domain of science'. Make your decision sooner than later. Reference point #1 again. 11. Community College is cheaper and (although hard) still possible to transfer to big university Let me know if you would like more details on what you should do. If you dont do these 11 things and more within the two years of applying to MIT you probably won't get it.
You don't NEED math for ML projects, but if you are interested in how ML models actually work it's useful to have an understanding of at least multivariable calc. The Andrew Ng courses do a very good job of explaining the math behind ML models, and it took me about 3 months to learn
Hey David, My question is this: Is it okay that I don't have focused extracurriculars? I want to do computer science in MIT, but my extra curriculars have a lot of non-stem related clubs and activities such as DECA, Model UN, and student council. The only Stem related stuff I have is: Starting a hackathon for my region (soon), a few basic python projects (snake, ping pong, and such) and the VP of my schools Robotics and Coding team/club. I am planning to publish a paper on something computer science related, but I noticed that even though your focus is computer science, your paper is focused on Neurology and such, is that good? is that okay? I would love to streamline more but I am already too involved as I will be becoming the president for Model UN and DECA next year as well as robotics and coding club. What do you recommend I do in my situation? I am also from Canada, and the region that I am in doesn't have any schools with AP courses. What do you recommend I do? Another thing is that I am averaging around 94% - 95% in grade 9 and 10 combined (I am a rising Grade 11), would you say that that is good enough to get into top colleges and universities? I will be doing the SAT sooner or later, hoping to get 1520+, so lets put the SAT aside, and just use my grades, because as far as my knowledge extends, anything above a 90 is an A and anything above a 97 or 96 is an A+ so if looked at from that perspective, I have a 4.0 GPA. So when I apply, (lets imagine I'm applying right now) would universities look at it as a 4.0 GPA or would they look at it as a 95% average? Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this! I hope you can get to answer my question! :)
You need to find a way to tie your EC's together through your essays (top colleges hate "well rounded" students, they want to see a spike). Maybe talk about how you are interested in the intersection of business/politics and coding/ML?
Hi!! Such a great content, thank you so muchh. Can you also take a video about how you created nivaro for the students who wants to know about what running a new startup looks like.
Hey David, it would be really helpful for me and many other students if you tell us about your honors and extracurriculars. Can you also tell if you had put MIT Maker Portfolio in your application.
My question is about interviews (say talks) you had with MIT students. How did you reach them out and what did you do or what did you say that they agreed to spend some time to talk with you?
Very gratefull for the video David! I have a start-up project that I started 6 months ago and I almost completed it by myself using React. Can you tell me will it be helpful for me in my application or what should I do to present it in the way so that I have the chance to get into MIT. Also, as you say you need to be passionate, I am very eager and excited about coding. Starting from the CS50 and currently reading github repositories of other coders I am learning more and more stuff everyday.
Good start! If you have good impact numbers (revenue, visitors, etc.) then that greatly helps in your application. However, I would just focus on things you enjoy doing, and you should not have numbers as your number one priority- keep doing what you're doing!
Hey!! Really appreciate you for the video. What if all my coding projects are more drived towards the community service and have never been to big hackathon?? No honors in hackathon but some good ones in community service, is it still possible??
I’m a rising sophomore and I’m on the first week of the CS50 Intro to CS course, it’s a bit challenging and I had no programming or cs experience prior, any tips or channels that may help in the process of completing it? Awesome video btw
Take your time and make sure you push through! It took me a year to finish and was really difficult for me to do, but is 100% worth it- if you need more help you can look online there are lots of free resources
Don't worry- I had no real projects going on until Junior year- I'd spend a lot of this year learning code and ML as much as you possibly can and maybe start a few projects too
For all of those I used Framer, but it can cost money. I would recommend using React with Tailwindcss and DaisyUI if you want something free and not UI based.
Hi, i am an aspiring student who dreams of going to MIT, currently in 9th grade, because of this i would like to know when you started learning code, machine learning, and started research papers/startups, since it would really help me understand when i should delve into my passions, what scale, and when.
@@Parrot. Honestly, start right now. If you wait until x year to get things done, they just won't get done (in my experience). Personally, I learned to code/ML in 10th grade, and spent the next 2 years on projects.
@@davidlomelin Thanks, that's really helpful! I was also wondering how many coding languages you reccomend to learn, would just one be enough if does everything like Java or should I be more versatile?(Personally I want to go into cs for ai, machine learning, new innovations)
I did watch cs50 for the starting 2 weeks and thought it was good. I plan on completing the course, do you think that cs50 certification would improve my chances of getting into top schools significantly ?
The video is very cool. very informative. Keep up the good work. I also want to clarify, can I take work from my internship and show it to MIT? What project have you done? If you don't mind, you can attach resources in the comments.
Heyy!! I have a few questions! Could you please answer them? I’m in grade 9, I didn’t do as good as I could’ve in my grade 9 exams. I could’ve definitely done better (since I’m usually a good scoring student). Now, I’m scared that since my grades in the previous exam were bad, I won’t get into a top university. I’m passionate about Physics and Programming aswell! Questions: So will I still have a chance to get into a top university? (Like Harvard, MIT, Stanford etc) Also, can you suggest a few way to show the universities my passion for programming and physics? I hope you can answer these questions! Thanks! (New subscriber btw)
1. A lot of these schools look at an overall trend- one year of bad grades should not matter too much 2. Just make projects that you enjoy making- if you like doing research write a paper, if you like making apps then make an app- just do what you like
Hello, thanks for the video. I am currently a rising sophomore and all the researches and projects seem to be very far away. I kinda feel i am a bit left behind, is it late? I do not have that much experience in cs but i know that i want to pursue it
Start with CS50 and Andrew Ng's ML courses! That should get you about 80% of the way there. You are not behind at all- just start working on these things soon!
You can but it is extremely difficult- I think about 20 kids were transfer students this year? I would reach out to MIT's admission email for more information
